Overcome
by Kitty9
Summary: Rick and Morty are forced to be separated when an adventure takes a turn for the worse, leaving one to fight for his life while the other must do whatever it takes to get him back.
1. Chapter 1

_**This story is assuming that the ending of Season 2 never happened. (Can't wait for Season 3 at the end of this year!)**_

Time passed slowly in the dark room. Bars lined all around, forming cells in the basement filled with different creatures. Most had passed away within the last few days, while the rest were hanging by a small thread. Their will to fight gone, but their body's will to live keeping them alive.

Unable to move, lying on a cold metal floor, realizing that this was the end...it wasn't supposed to be like this. He was supposed to fight for his life until he was rescued. He kept telling himself that his rescuer would be here anytime. His rescuer promised he would be there. Promised they would see each other again. Eventually when he realized he was on his own, he started to attempt to rescue himself.

He held back the same tear from the first time he got here. It wouldn't fall; he wouldn't allow them to have it.

He looked to the left; the alien in that cage died a little after the feedings stopped. The decaying body a solemn reminder of what was to come.

In other cages, some were still alive. Dying slowly like him. One in particular who always paced was still pacing making him more irritated every growing second. _'Stop pacing'_ He thought. He wanted to yell it like he used too. His mind racing with the same two words he couldn't speak, _'STOP pacing. STOP PACING!'_ Then a loud thump was heard.

Silence fell on the dark room.

Lying naked on the cold ground, his own fecal matter cased onto his skin. A metal harness was the only thing he wore for so long. His stomach tight from the few meals he was allowed since was brought here. He finally came to terms with the realization that he was going to die today and oddly enough, he was alright with that.

A door opened, revealing a flashlight. Gagging sounds could be heard. Footsteps were heard walking around as the light flashed from cage to cage. Flashes from a camera could be seen as a mixture of pleading and frightened eyes looked up at the figure with the light. Some wanting to beg the figure to let them go, while others too afraid that the figure may have come to induce harm. The figure walked down the small aisle way, attempting to guide itself through the narrow path. It was attempting to move quickly from cage to cage as if searching for something specific.

The light beamed into his small enclosure, staying longer than it did in the other cages.

His eyes moved to look up at the light as it beamed into the place he called home for who knew how long. "Finally." He heard a familiar voice say. The figure knelt down, cutting into the metal that held the cage together. The voice was so familiar and yet, he couldn't put a name to it.

He closed his eyes as the figure's hand moved toward him, waiting for the hand to grab the chain harness he wore since day one to drag him away like they did to his cage partner the last time they came. Instead the hand gently touched his cheek. "Morty…" the figure whispered pausing for him to answer. He looked at the figure. Why couldn't he tell who this figure was? He tried to speak, but it came out as moans. "It's alright." The voice sound so familiar and yet he couldn't tell who it was. The figure gently picked him up, cradling him in its arms. "You're safe now."

Safe? What was safe anymore?

The figure started walking off with him in his arms when he was finally able to speak, "Ve-Vexy." He whispered. "We need to get…" he had to stop to take a deep breath, "Vexy." It was so hard to talk, but he couldn't leave his cage partner behind.

"We released everyone here." A female voice was heard. "Most are being sent to the hospital. There's a personal vehicle waiting just for Morty outside like in the contract to bring him to the hospital. Thanks for the work. It was good working you."

"Vexy." Morty whimpered again.

"Who?" The female asked.

"He keeps asking for someone named Vexy." The figured holding him said.

"We let everyone go. There was no one alive by that name."

No one alive?

He struggled in the figures arms, falling to the ground. It was too dark to see anything. "What the fuck Morty?" The figure yelled as he hit the ground with a thud. He wasn't leaving without his cell mate. He felt the figure's hand grab his arm but he attempted to move away falling over hitting more cages. His body was too weak to fight off the individual in front of him. His arm was grabbed sharply, fingers gripping him tight. "Morty! Stop!" The dark figure was in his face speaking harshly.

"No, I'm not leaving without..." Morty stopped when he heard a baby's cry. He went to step forward but couldn't hold himself. He buckled to the ground. He hated feeling so weak, so vulnerable. He thought he was weak before, but he didn't realize how wrong he was.

"Rick…" a smaller creature said walking from the sound of the cry and up to the three. "You are going to want to see this."

Rick…finally it hit who these people were. Rick was helping him. The smaller figure was Squanchy…he hadn't seen them in so long. Who was the female that was with them? There were others walking around but he didn't bother to look. How'd he forget their voices? He looked up at Rick, the blackness making it hard for him to tell if he was actually looking the right direction, "Rick! Help me."

Rick grumbled under his breath, picking Morty up. They went down the hall toward the sound of the cries. Once in the room, the smell of death hit everyone making them want to gag. Squanchy held out a flashlight to the point of the smell. A small female frame sat hunched in the corner holding a small bundle in its arms. The female had passed a day or two ago, but somehow the baby survived. It's wailing being muffled by the closed door. Morty forced Rick to set him down as he crawled to the girl. They were always together, they both agreed to get out together. Morty grabbed the bundle from the dead female.

He sat against the wall tears hitting him for the first time since he got here. The baby still crying in his arms.

Rick knelt down to Morty, "Morty, I know you're upset, but we have to go."

Morty still held the child to him, if he let it go, he would lose everything.

"Squanchy." Rick said getting the cat creatures attention. "Hold the baby while I grab Morty."

"Okay." Squanchy walked up to Morty attempting to grab the baby.

Morty held the child tighter to him. He wasn't going to let anyone take the last thing he had. He promised he would protect Vexy, he swore nothing bad would happen to her. He looked at the female's body. He thought he had to let her go when she was in labor…he didn't have to. He could have fought more when they came to take her.

Rick picked up the small teen in his arms allowing the teen to hold the child. "Come on, your mom is worried sick about you. It's been over a year since you've been home."

A year? His mom? His family? Morty looked behind Rick at the dead female figure on the ground. She helped him get through so much.

"Just don't look back. Don't think about it." Rick said to the teen, closing the door. Rick walked up the stairs from the basement, passing rooms filled with gromflomites searching everything. When did Rick start working with them? The front door was opened for the first time. Birdperson was ahead of them, he walked through the bright light.

Rick walked through the door into the bright light with him in his arms.

The sun was brighter than he remembered. He hadn't felt the fresh air in so long. He turned his head to see a pile of bodies. Others were brought into an ambulance to be checked for any medical issues. Rick had a special ambulance just for when he picked him up. Rick set him on the stretcher as others worked around him to get an IV started. Morty reluctantly let Rick take the small child from his arms while the paramedics worked on him. A paramedic grabbed the small baby working to ensure it was healthy.

He was finally free. He closed his eyes, he was finally able to relax. He was no longer fighting for his life. Morty felt himself drift off. "Morty! Come back to us! Morty!" He heard a voice from far off. Then the voice yelled, "We're losing him!"

Then he heard Rick, "Stay with us Morty. You've come this far. Don't give up now!"

He felt his lips turn to a smile, he did come so far. And here he was, free...

Then blackness.

 _ ** _ **So this new story starts with the ending and then we will rewind to find out how our favorite characters got into this do you think? Interested?**_**_

 _ **I've been off the grid for a little over a month…Sorry! I have so much to read and catch up with. My computer decided to destroy itself and along with it everything on my thumb-drive that was attached which included my other story, 'First for Everything.' Soooo, that's on hiatus until I can figure out what I was writing for those chapters. I have the next chapter redone, but it sucks and I know it was better in the original one. I know the full ending I want to achieve but the middle is all jumbled right now. I got a huge brain fart when trying to remember, then this story popped out of my brain, go figure. I can forget the whole story I already created but then create a new story...  
**_

 _ **Enough whining! No one came here for the pity party. Life goes on. blah blah blah!  
**_

 _ **Reviews are always nice though!**_


	2. Chapter 2

Morty was following Rick through a heavily wooded planet. It was a hot and humid place. The colors were vibrant reminding Morty of the rain forests back on Earth.

A large two headed blue parrot-like animal was sitting on the top branch of a tall tree. It watched the two walk underneath, jumping down from the top until it was standing next to Morty. Morty stopped in his tracks to stare at the bird. He smiled going to touch it. The parrot moved its heads to avoid the hand that was coming at it. It let out a loud squawk as it bobbed up and down.

"Morty! Come on. Leave that thing alone." Rick yelled.

"Come on Rick, it's a harmless bird." Morty said.

"That's what it wants you to think." Rick walked back over and stood next to Morty.

"Do you have any snacks?" Morty asked still watching the bird.

"We aren't feeding the local wildlife Morty."

"Just one small snack!" Morty said still staring at the bird. One head was looking at Rick while the other was looking at Morty.

"Snack."Both heads said in unison, while looking up at the two. It fluffed its feathers out then smoothed them back.

Morty laughed, "Come on Rick, he's asking for the snack! Yo-you gotta give him something now!"

Rick crossed his arms as the bird's right head squawked, "Come on Rick." Then the left head screeched, "Snaaack."

Morty laughed.

Rick rolled his eyes reaching into the one shoulder satchel he was wearing. The two had just made a stop at a grocery store on another planet to get one of Rick's favorite snack foods and now they were giving it to a bird. He pulled out a small bag of Cheesy dibbles. "One dibble per head and we're gone. What else am I going to eat during the Ball Fondlers finale tonight?"

"Thanks Rick!"

The bird jumped when Morty opened the bag. Its heads perked at the sight of the dibble in Morty's hand. He gently held out the dibble to the bird as both heads reached forward. The left head sniffed it when the right head snatched the dibble eating it in one bite. The left head squawked at the right head starting to peck it. The two heads started to peck at each other as a small fight started between the two.

Morty laughed while Rick smirked at the animal. While he would never say it out loud, Rick had to admit the bird was humorous.

"Alright Morty, time to go." Rick said. "We only have another hour of day light here and we have to get to our destination before the sun sets." Then he looked at his watch, "And only two hours before the finale tonight!" He said excitedly throwing his arms in the air.

Morty rolled up the bag handing it back to Rick. "Thanks Rick! That was fun."

Rick snatched the bag, setting it back in his satchel, "Yeah, whatever Morty. Let's get going." Rick turned around to walk off with Morty behind him when the bird squawked and followed them. "Morty get rid of your friend." Rick said.

"Shoo." Morty moved his arms at the bird, "Go away." The bird followed while hopping along on the ground squawking. Morty turned back around repeating himself, "Go away."

The bird's left head squawked, "Go away." then the right head squawked, "Shoo."

"I said get rid of it!" Rick said annoyed.

"Go away now!" Morty said.

The bird suddenly perked up looking to the left of them. It let out several louder squawks before fluffing its feathers. "I said get rid of it! It's giving me a headache Morty. If it's not gone in a minute, I'm going to make it disappear!" Rick yelled over his shoulder.

"Co-come on little guy, you have to go." Morty attempted to move the bird in the opposite direction of where they were walking. The bird suddenly spread its wings. Morty watched as the blue bird flew away. He smiled as it turned into a small speck in the sky. "Gee Rick, I think he really liked me. I think we could have had a pet."

"Run Morty!" He heard from behind him. Morty turned around, feeling a pin stick into his neck. He reached up grabbing a red feathered dart. Everything started to go blurry. He saw Rick on his knees, one arm keeping him from hitting the ground while the other arm was attempting to grab something out of his lab coat before the dart took effect. He finally found his gun, pulling it out. Morty attempted to move toward Rick, eyeing two people coming toward them slowly. Rick tried to focus as his arms shook, he fired several shots. Every shot missing. Morty was shaky on his legs feeling his muscles slowly give. Rick's words were slurring but he was able to say, "Run the other way you…idiot."

Morty backed away from the two as he attempted to focus, his mind mixing colors around him.

Morty fell to his knees still trying keep focus. His muscles finally gave, he found himself lying on his side. He locked eyes with Rick. Morty was trying to get some kind of acknowledgment that they were going to be okay, but Rick held the same stern face he always had. Morty watched as Rick was kicked to his back as one of them bent down scanning his iris. "He's the one." The man said.

Morty was then kicked over, the same scanner scanning his eyes. "Nothing." The man said. "Guess it could fetch a little on the black market." The men laughed.

The men looked very humanistic. They were wearing masks making it hard to see their faces. Their skin tone was only slightly darker than his own. They pulled out walkie talkies. "We found them."

"Bring them both here." The walkie talkie said.

The man pulled out a large needle like gun bending down to Rick and poking him in the neck. Then the man went over to Morty, doing the same. Morty suddenly started to feel tired, his eyes starting to close. He was lifted up. He was able to keep his eyes open long enough to see Rick get picked up too. The two locked eyes again before Morty's were too heavy. He started to close them.

Rick watched as Morty closed his eyes, allowing the serum to take over. Rick attempted to fight the serum given. He had gotten out of worse. The strategy was to stay awake. His plan was botched, only a few minutes passed before his eyes closed as well.

 _ **Shout out to Penguins of Madagascar! If you didn't catch it, the term Cheesy Dibbles is from the movie, Penguins of Madagascar! I was originally planning on just calling them Cheese puffs or using a snack already featured in Rick and Morty, but Cheesy Dibbles are just fun to say! I will always give credit where credit is due!  
**_

 _ **Anyways, please review.**_


	3. Chapter 3

Waking up on a cold hard floor with a splitting headache was not something Morty had ever wanted to experience. He had heard his mom complain of hangovers where she couldn't open her eyes in the light, he wondered if this was what it felt like. He opened his eyes to a dark room. He started to stand up but was forced back down by an object above him. He lifted his hand up to feel a low ceiling. He noticed bars surrounding him. Morty figured it out, he was in a cage. The cage was just big enough for him to kneel in. He couldn't have his arms out stretched without hitting the two sides.

He brought his knees to his chest as he tried to get through the pain in his head. What happened? He remembered the bird, the dart, the men, Rick. Rick! Where was he? Morty looked around the dark room, the minimal light made it impossible to see anything.

A door opened making him turn quickly toward the noise. A light flickered on. He shielded his eyes from the oncoming light. The light only worsened his already pounding head. This must definitely be what his mother felt whenever she had a hangover.

"I'm surprised you're awake so soon." A male said walking toward him.

"Wh-wh-what's going on?" Morty asked failing at making himself sound intimidating.

"What's your relation to the fugitive?" the man asked.

"Fugitive?" Morty questioned looking up for a few seconds, then stuck his head back down so he keep his eyes from the light, "You mean R-Rick?" He said his voice muffled in his legs.

"Call him what you will. Are you a human like him?"

"Ye-yeah." Morty said putting his hands to his hand. He just wanted the man to stop talking.

"So what's your relation to him?"

"Wh-why do you want to know?" Morty could feel the man next to him. He looked up to see a man with a deadlock beard.

"What's your relation?" the man asked again.

"Gr-gr-grandson." Morty said.

The man just stared at him, his eyes seeming to be peering through him. "Relative, interesting." The man muttered. The man drew what looked like a cigarette, lighting it up. He took a long drag from the smoking item.

"Where's Rick?" Morty asked again.

The man smiled, then blew smoke into Morty's cage making him cough. The the man stood up and walked out leaving the light on.

Once he was gone Morty looked around the room. Several empty cages lined the walls. Then he heard a groan behind him. Morty looked toward the noise, it war Rick. He was hanging on the wall, chains hanging from the top of the ceiling one chain wrapped around each arm and went down his legs and went through the floor. Rick appeared to be passed out. He head falling in an uncomfortable position.

The door opened again and the man came over, placing something that looked like bread down next to the cage. "Eat up. This will take away the headache you're experiencing from the serum." The man said.

The man walked out again. Rick had warned Morty to never take food from anyone if they were ever caught. Luckily, Morty wasn't hungry so it didn't bother him to leave the food there.

Rick let out a grunt. Morty turned back to him. "Rick?" Morty whispered.

No answer.

"Rick wake up." Morty said again.

"Morty go back to bed." He muttered, "It's too early. Turn off the light on your way out."

"Rick wake up." Morty said again.

Rick's face contorted then he slowly opened his eyes. He looked around the room, attempted to move his body, then went limp, "Well…fuck."

"What do we do now?" Morty asked.

"Morty try pushing against all the bars. There's always a loose one."

Morty nodded and started to push against the bars, each holding as firm as the next. "No use."

"You aren't pushing hard enough Morty."

"I'm pu-pushing as hard as possible!" Morty cried out before grabbing his head, his headache wasn't getting better.

The door opened again, the same man walking in. "Finally awake?"

Rick let out a grunt when he saw the man, "I got away from you last time, I'll get away again."

"Nope, I worked harder on the restraints. You are going to pay off the rest of my ship. And for the scar you gave me, your grandson is going to sell well."

"Keep dreaming!" Rick pulled against the chains. He then attempted to reach his wrist with his fingers for his watch.

"I checked everywhere to ensure you have nothing on you. You have not one gadget on you. Just keep trying, see where that gets you."

Rick glared at the man.

The man smirked. "I already have the federation waiting for your arrival. The price on your head only gets higher every day. Don't bother trying to get away. If you attempt anything, your price is the same whether you're dead or alive."

The man walked out.

"Rick, what should we do?"

Rick looked around trying to find something.

"Rick?"

"I'm thinking Morty!" Rick yelled. "Double check the bars."

Morty crawled around the cage, attempting to move each bar. "Nothing." Morty sat back against the cage. He held his stomach as it started to grumble. First his head, now his stomach.

"Eat the damn food." Rick said.

"You said to never eat the food."

"Yeah, well even if it was poisonous, it's probably better than any outcome I can think of."

"What?" Morty cried out.

"Just eat the bread and smash the plate on the ground."

Morty grabbed the bread sticking it in his mouth so it was sticking out. He then grabbed the plate smashing it to the ground. It didn't break. Morty pulled the bun out of his mouth, "It's plastic."

"Fuck them, they thought of everything."

The ship made a sudden stop.

"What's happening?" Morty asked panicking.

"Just stay calm Morty."

"Rick! What's going on?" Morty asked again feeling himself starting to hyperventilate.

"Just stop, it's not like you're the one who has to break out of jail again."

"Jail? Break out? Rick! I…what am I going to do?"

"Will you shut the hell up Morty? I'll break out of jail. I'll find you. It's simple. No reason to cry over it. Give me two weeks, three weeks tops."

"You promise Rick?" Morty asked.

"What?"

"Promise you'll find me!"

Rick let out a small sigh, "Sure Morty if that's what helps you sleep at night."

The door opened revealing several gromflomites. A female in a pressed black business suit stood in front of the gromflomites.

Rick glared at them as they walked over. "Long time, no see." The woman said making Rick scowl. she held up a scanner to Rick. "Yep, he's the fugitive." The woman watched as Rick's eyes darted over at Morty. She turned to look, it was a human child. "Related to you?" she asked.

"Fuck you Cockander!" Rick spat. She was always the one in charge of catching him. Her real name was Corkander, he knew that. But he liked his name better, it suited her.

The woman seemed disinterested at that outburst. She turned scanning Morty. "Just him." She said pointing to Rick. "Remember to sedate before removing the chains this time."

Rick's plan didn't work. He was hoping she would attempt to take Morty with them if she thought they were related. Then at least he would know where Morty was. Sure he might get tortured for a bit but at least when he broke out, he could grab the child on the way out.

The gromflomite next to her roughly jabbed a large needle into Rick's side.

"Be more gentle next…" his vision was already blurry and his mind was already a million miles away. He made a mental note to find out what that drug was so he could get some for recreational use later before passing out.

"Rick!" Morty yelled, the woman turned around. "Pl-please don't take him." Morty cried out to them.

The woman knelt down looking at Morty, he backed away. "You'll be fine." She muttered.

Morty watched as Rick was dragged along. The woman stayed knelt down, staring at Morty as if debating on something, then walked to the door. She hand a large package to the man, "You know what to do." She said to him.

"Sell the package to the professor."

"Then you get the other half of the payment." The woman then walked off the ship.

The man smiled as he watched her walk away. He set the money in his pocket then walked into the opposite direction.

The light was turned off, leaving Morty alone in a dark room. Rick would find him. He was going to be okay. Two weeks were going to go by slowly, but he could do it. Two weeks…Morty just had to keep telling himself…two weeks…


	4. Chapter 4

Morty was holding the plastic plate in the dark room, not knowing what else he could do. He bent the plate attempting to break it, but it didn't budge. He attempted again, using all his strength to split it. Nothing.

He sat staring at the plate then threw it out of the cage watching it disappear out of the little sight he had in the shadowy room. Even if he could break it, he didn't know what Rick's plan was for the plate. There were many times in the past where he had tried to think like Rick but it always amounted to nothing. He knew his mind wasn't like Rick's mentality. Morty looked down at the bread that was still in the cage. A small bite was taken out of the side. Rick's words rung in his ears, 'if it's poisonous, it's probably better than any outcome I can think of.' But he promised he would find Morty. Promises must mean something, even for Rick.

Morty furrowed his brows, "Damn it Rick! Which is it?" He yelled, "Are you going to find me or am I better off dead?" He asked crushing the bread in his hands. Then he threw it out of the cage. It plopped on the outside of the cage, as if taunting him. He wasn't ready to die! He had to hold hope that Rick would find him.

The door opened as the dreadlocked bearded man walked in, followed by two others. "We have the professor coming in seven days. They want the package safely delivered to him before they will pay the rest." The man said to them.

The three walked over to the cage as they talked amongst themselves. The three lifted the cage up as Morty braced himself. "This isn't going to work." One of them said.

"They did the math, this will work just fine. Besides it's not up to me if it works. We get paid whether it works or not. Our job is to point him in the right direction."

The three walked off the ship and stopped as a door slid open in front of them. Morty looked around to see large cement walls jutting out of the walls, bars in the front of each as if they were cells. Many filled with different aliens and creatures looking around. It reminded him of the humane society he and his family went to get Snuff…Snowball. The small cage he was in was set on the floor, scooted to the front of one of the empty cells. Morty looked to the left to see a dog like alien that looked like a Pomeranian. To his right was an empty cage.

"Go get the bowls for food and water." One of them said. Another walked off. The one with the dreadlock beard was about to walk in the opposite direction when Morty talked.

"Wa-wait." Morty was able to stammer out still crouched in the small cage on the floor.

The man turned around.

"What's going to happen?" Morty asked. "Where's Rick?"

The man walked up to the cage peering in, "What's going to happen?" he chuckled. "You are going to keep your mouth shut. Do whatever is needed of you."

"And Rick?"

"He's gone. Locked his ass up. Don't worry he got me a large profit for the trouble. He also gave me this scar a long time ago." The man said. "So, selling your ass will feel good. My last fuck you to Rick." The man laughed while shoving a middle finger in the air.

"Who's the pro-professor you keep sp-speaking about?"

The man stared at him as if surprised to hear that question. The man then walked off. The two other men came back with a bowl of water and food. In one hand, Morty noticed one of them was holding what looked to be a dog collar. Morty watched as they opened the cage door. He attempted to maneuver around them, feeling their arms against him as he attempted to squeeze out of the cage. Morty was half way out when he felt arms grab around his waist. One held him while the other locked the collar around his neck. Within seconds, they threw him into the larger cell, closing the door behind him.

Morty attempted to remove the collar off him, he wasn't an animal. He didn't need a collar.

The men laughed, "Good luck without this." They held up a key.

"I-I'm" that's all Morty got out as the collar shocked him. He jumped from the sudden shock then tried to talk again, "I-I" again it shocked him. The men laughed and walked out. He looked at all the others who were sitting in the cages, all wearing the same collar. That's why it was so quiet in here. If you talked, it shocked you. He walked to the back of the cell to find what appeared to have a small trough that traveled through the cages with drains on the bottom. A liquid was flowing through from one side to the other. Then he walked back up to the front where the two bowls sat at the door.

' _Rick, where are you?'_ Morty thought as he sat there.

His stomach growled, he knew he needed to eat something. He wouldn't go much longer without sustenance. The others were eating the kibble in other cages so it must not be too bad. Morty slowly walked forward and reached his hand out, grabbing one piece. He placed a piece of kibble in his mouth chewing it. It was bland and held no flavor. In a way Morty was grateful that it was flavorless, better than a flavor that he hated. He sat next to the bowl, eating the kibble like it was popcorn as he looked around at all the other creatures who looked gone. Their eyes appeared to show no sign or will to live. Then his eyes spotted a small opening in the top of the other cage adjacent to his, sun was peering through. He noticed it hitting the ground in his cell.

He then looked up the wall of his own cage, a window up above. There was no top to the cell so if he could jump that high, he could reach the window. He went to the wall staring up. It must have been at least twenty feet high.

He used all of his strength to jump and reach the window.

Morty didn't come close to touching the window. He attempted to jump again. This time, his hand was able to grab a brick that was slightly out of the wall. Once he was dangling he looked around trying to find another brick. Several bricks over, there was another jutting out of the wall. "Yes!" He yelled making the collar shock him. The shock made his hand loose grasp of the brick, he fell to the ground in a large thud. That was a strong one. Much stronger than the first two. He found himself paralyzed for a few minutes, lying in the liquid that was coming down the trough. Once he could move, he lifted himself up from the liquid.

Morty sat on the side of the cell watching as his hand dried from the liquid he touched. He was hurting from the fall; a few scratches littered his body from where he landed. He was sure the liquid wasn't something he'd want to touch. He took Rick's advice that he always said and tried not to think about it.

The sun started to set leaving the cells in darkness. Morty decided he would try again tomorrow.

Sleep didn't come easy in the cell. The floor was hard and he had no pillow to lay his head on. He always hated camping, it was the worse. He looked around the best he could, the other creatures were using their arms or were curled up like animals. He attempted to move his arms under his head. It did nothing to help him sleep. Morty chose to lie on his back. He stared up at the ceiling as the creatures around him slept.

Eventually his eyes grew heavy enough to allow him to sleep.

XXXXXXXXX

Morty was feeling restless. He could only sit in a cage for so long. Based on the sun shining into the window, it had been seven days. He had attempted one more time to get to the window within the last seven days; however, the employees caught him and made the collar shock him even harder than before. They told him if he tried it again, it would only get worse.

Morty just finished the last of the kibble that was for breakfast. They came around every few hours to check and give food and water to those who needed it. When it came to the bathroom, he just had to use the trough. They would grab a hose and spray the cage floors down once a day. Morty would attempt to stay out of the way of the hose, not wanting to sit in wet clothing. He looked across from his cage. A new creature was brought in two days ago. While the creature looked humanistic, it was currently cleaning itself with its tongue. It somehow was able to bend like a dog cleaning its leg. Morty looked the other way, he sniffed his arm pits; he could use a shower now. On occasion he would allow the water that was used to clean the cage hit him so that he could get clean. But nothing would be a hot shower and soap.

Morty picked up the bowl of water about to take a sip when the door opened. He looked up expecting to see the help that would walk by filling the food and water bowls. He was in shock when he saw the man that picked up the two originally walking beside a man with a lab coat. The lab coat man walked with his back straight, his nose in the air as if he was better than others. The lab coat was practically an identical to what Rick wore. Morty almost chuckled at the idea that the coat was so identical, must have been a sale on them when the two bought them.

"And as you see, we got quite a few more for you to choose from for your trials." The man said

"Yeah, I killed four." The man in the lab coat said looking from cage to cage. "I'll take the frogin." He said pointing to a furry four legged creature. He kept walking down the cages. "Algers have good genetics, I'll take that one." He pointed to another. The man passed by Morty's cage going straight to the neighboring cage. "You don't see too many namats, huh?" he asked staring at the neighbor.

"If you're into the rare stuff, I also have a human."

The man laughed, "Humans? Why? Just because I'm one?"

That caught Morty's attention. He didn't know why but he always just assumed it was only Rick who was smart enough to go into space. He never thought of another human in space.

"Think about it!" The man pulled the scientist over to be in front of Morty, "Humans are primitive. They are still young and their genetics haven't fully matured. It may be helpful with your trials. Humans make up about 80 percent of the DNA you can find in any creature in the universe. It can help you in your research."

The man seemed to be buying it.

"You may have a point." He looked Morty over, "But it's still so tiny. I'm a geneticist, and the genetics in this one seems horrendous."

"Yes, but it can help so much. You said you are close, don't you think you need a test subject that's close to your genetics to do a final trial."

Morty stayed silent drinking from the bowl. He couldn't yell at them, he would just be shocked and from what he could tell with the collar, each time only got worse. He had now been shocked six times. The last shock left him on the ground for way too long for his comfort.

The man looked like he was debating, "Yeah, I'll take it."

"Great! I'll write up the receipt for you while the others pack the creatures." The two walked off. The dreadlocked beard man came back later with a long pole. He set it in one of the cages that the scientist pointed to, wrapping a rope around the alien's neck. Once the rope was tight he opened the door keeping it outstretched. A two legged animal walked in. It appeared to have a boar like head and feet. The hands had long fingers allowing it to grab the pole. It walked off with the creature.

The man then walked over to Morty's cage with another pole. He opened the door slightly, moving the pole in. Morty attempted to not allow the rope around his neck, however, the man was very skilled. The rope tightened around his neck. Then the door was opened. Morty felt a tug as the man dragged him out of the cage. Morty stood up and walked along watching as the others looked on. Morty's pole was then passed on to another boar like creature. He was brought to a room where the one before him was brought to. Both being held by a boar creature. The other two that the scientist picked out were walked into the room. All four being held by a boar guard. The scientist walked in.

"So these are the four you chose, correct?" The dreadlocked beard man said smiling.

The scientist looked all four over, "Yeah. That will work." They put a muzzle on one of the creatures that was shaped like a dog, if Morty remembered correct he had called it a namat. The scientist grabbed the back of the namat's neck then injected something into it. Within seconds it started to fall over, before lying on the ground.

Morty attempted to back away from everyone. The scientist grabbed Morty's arm roughly, he swiped an alcohol swab over his forearm, then stuck a needle into him. After the initial poke, Morty started to feel his vision get blurry. He was getting tired of constantly being drugged. It was getting old fast. The scientist went to the other two doing the same thing.

The scientist spoke, "Let's get them to the lab and start the initiation phase."

"It was a pleasure doing business with you." The dreadlocked beard man held out his hand.

Morty fell back, feeling himself get pulled up by someone.

"Yeah whatever." The scientist said.

Morty felt the world around him black out.

XXXXX

Rick was chained to the moving block of the cell. He kept watching around, waiting for his time to escape. It had been eight days, four hours, and ten minutes and he still didn't find a weak point in the security. By now, he typically found something. This was the first time he was put in high security prison.

He let out a loud sigh, how could he be so stupid? He never let his guard down. Even when most thought he was just having fun, he was always aware of his surroundings. And now, not only did he have to escape but then he would have to figure out where Morty was.

This was Morty's fault. If it wasn't for his insistence on feeding that dumb bird Rick would have noticed the bounty hunter. Damn it! He always knew the kid would be the death of him. He just hoped now wasn't the time.

 _ **This story will now be brought to you by the rating M!**_

 _ **Yes, I'm upping the rating. Why? Because future chapters are on the edge of T and M…so I'm upping the rating more of a just in case thing. There will be NO hard core smut scenes, go to AO3 if you want that. This story will have adult themes strewn throughout but nothing too in depth, if you get my drift. So because I'm rating it M, I'm going to add extras cuz why not, but like I said above, there will be no steamy scenes. I'm not good with description anyway, it would come off weird. So if you don't like to read M only because of the hardcore sex scenes then you will be fine to continue to read this, there's none of that. I will attempt to give warnings on the chapters where it might be M. But no guarantees.**_

 _ **So, please review!**_


	5. Chapter 5

"Here's the scissors, I knew she wasn't looking."

Morty heard someone mutter. Morty let out a grown as his awareness of his surroundings came in and out. The person who was muttering went silent.

Morty was able to start seeing, he noticed the man's back, he was wearing a white lab coat. "Rick?" he whispered. He could feel his stomach flipping around him. "Rick, I don't feel good. I'm…I'm going to vomit."

"What did you just say?" the man asked turning to face Morty.

Morty was slowly passing out again when he felt someone grab his jaw, "What name did you just say?" the man asked.

Morty had to force himself to focus; eventually he noticed it was the scientist from before. Morty was about to say Rick's name when he felt the bile rise in his stomach. Morty went to flip off his back when he realized his arms and legs were strapped to the table. He tried to swallow the bile back down but couldn't do it as it flew out of his mouth. The man moved in time to not get hit, allowing the vomit to splash down on Morty's face.

A woman walked in, appearing to be shocked by the man holding Morty down. "What's going on in here?" she asked running over.

The man still held Morty's jaw, vomit constantly falling out of his mouth. He started to gag as it pooled in his mouth and started to trickle into his nose. "Tell me the name you said."

Morty was trying to tell him but more vomit flew out of his mouth. He attempted to move his head to the side to allow himself to breathe, however, the man still held his head still. He struggled to move as the vomit stopped him from being able to take breaths.

"He needs to sit up." The woman said to the man.

"NO, he will tell me what he just said."

"He can't talk if he's gagging."

Morty felt a hand around his left wrist where one of the straps where. As soon as the strap was loosened, Morty flew to his right side. Luckily the man let go of his face. Morty was able to let the vomit leave his mouth as he was able to pull in a fresh breath of air. Morty let out another round of vomit from his mouth as it hit the ground. He used his free hand to attempt to clear his face the best possible.

The man ran over to the woman, grabbing her arm. "Out now!" he yelled. Morty watched as the woman pulled her arm out of his hand, she nodded and walked out. Once the door was closed, the man turned to Morty, "Now. What name did you say?"

Morty looked around at the room, everything was white and oddly very clean. He noticed medical supplies that were strewn on a small table on wheels. His eyes then set on the scientist from before.

"What name?"

"L-le-let me g-g-go." Morty said attempting to use his free hand to unhook the strap on his other wrist.

The man grabbed Morty's wrist. "You don't seem to be in the state to tell me what to do." The man pulled out a wheeled chair sitting on it as he sat next to Morty. The wheels rolled through the vomit on the ground. The man didn't seem to care. "What makes you think you have a chance of getting out of here?"

"He'll find me."

"Who?"

"Rick! Rick will find me!"

"Rick? You know Rick Sanchez." the man sat back as he watched Morty's eyes widen. "There's only one other human from Earth that I know and he has that name."

"You know him?"

"Know him? I worked with him. I lived with him for years." The man laughed. "I'm the reason he learned about space. We were the top of the class freshman year. Of course, he bailed out of college as soon as he learned about space. I stayed behind and became a professor. I found that idiot years later in a bar, drunk off his ass and surrounded by low lives. I have to give him credit on one thing; he's the one that gave me the idea of what I've been working toward! He's the reason for everything you see.

"We became friends, he gave me the thought and said he'd help. Then he decided that he didn't like what I was planning. He claimed I was too over the top. He called me a psychopath. Can you believe it a sociopath would have the balls to call me a psychopath? Never cared for that drunk. Guy calls himself a genius but has nothing to back it up. Being able to build a spaceship does not constitute being a genius in space. It may be true on Earth but out here, you need more than theatrical tricks to be considered a genius in the science world." The doctor leaned back in the chair. "He won't find you though. He has no clue where I am."

"He'll find me." Morty said.

"And why do you think a man that only thinks about himself, a man that would rather get drunk than to help someone out, a man who never trusted anyone would come looking for little you?"

"Because…because he…he promised."

The man laughed, "Promised? He promised you so he's going to do it?"

"You'll see! He'll come for me."

"Hm." The man stood up walking over to a counter. "Yeah, well you'll figure it out soon enough." The man said rummaging through a cabinet.

"He wouldn't break a promise!" Morty yelled.

"Such big words for someone who knows nothing." The man turned around with an item in his hands. "You see, the thing about Rick is that he's all about himself. If something doesn't benefit him, he doesn't care."

"Then you don't know him." Morty said.

"Yeah, well I do know one thing. Your mouth is annoying." The man said pushing a gag into Morty's mouth. The man strapped it into Morty's mouth not allowing the boy to talk anymore. Then he walked over to Morty's free arm, pulling it down to the table and strapping it back down. "I also know that your life ends here. There's no more Rick, no more family, nothing. Now, let's get to why I'm here." He brought the moving table over with the medical instruments on it.

The man grabbed a pair of scissors starting to cut at Morty's shirt. Morty attempted to move making the man push him down with his free hand. "Careful, don't make me cut you."

After the man said that Morty attempted to stay still. Once the shirt was cut off, the man worked on the pants.

The door was opened slowly, "May I come in now professor?"

"Yeah. Get over here and start helping." The man said as he continued to cut at Morty's clothing.

"I got the recorder so you can start your check." The woman from before held up a recorder.

"Set it down on the counter."

The woman did as told.

The doctor stopped cutting half way up Morty's pants. "Here you do the rest. I need to get the recorder ready."

The woman grabbed the scissors doing as told. She never looked at Morty as she focused on her job at hand. She was much gentler than the man, Morty felt like there was a chance he could talk to the woman later. "What's the plan?" the woman asked.

"I wasn't planning on trying human subjects for another month or so. I'll have to do the physical then I'll decide." The scientist said writing something down.

The woman pulled the pants away, leaving Morty naked on the table. It was uncomfortable to say the least. "All set." The woman spoke up throwing the clothing in a trashcan.

"Good." The man stood up with his recorder clicking a button. It made a noise as he held it to his mouth. The woman walked around and grabbed the recorder from him, holding it to his face. She followed behind him as he walked. "New test subject coming in. Weight is 110.2 pounds and height is 62 inches. Subject is species Homo sapien, better known as a human from planet Earth located in the Milky Way Galaxy. From now on, subject human will be known as subject eighty two or just eighty two. Subject eighty two appears alert and is able to talk." The man grabbed Morty's mouth, lifting his lips. "Teeth look clean and well kept." The man grabbed a flashlight, flashing it in his eyes. "Eyes seem clear and pupils dilate properly." He put a stethoscope to his ears and placed the cold flat portion on Morty's chest. There was a moment of silence as he listened. "Subject eighty two has a heightened erratic heartbeat most likely caused by stress from being moved."

Morty wanted to yell at him, he wasn't an animal!

The man walked down to Morty's feet, grabbing his left foot. "Slight pigeon toe. Not a good genetic makeup but that seems to be the only thing."

The man then walked over to the counter grabbing a needle and vials. He walked over to Morty's arm. Morty looked away as the man stuck him with the needle. Morty looked over to see him fill three vials with blood. "Assistant set the recorder down and go start the tests." He said handing the vials to the woman.

"Yes sir." She set the recorder next to Morty's head, grabbing the three vials. The woman walked out. The man then turned around to set the needle down and pick up some type of object. It reminded Morty of the gun used when his sister wanted another piercing. The man went to Morty's ear. There was a loud click in his ear and a sharp pain. The man picked up the recorder and set it aside then pulled out a long metal chain. The scientist held one end with his hand and moved it under Morty's back until his hand was on the other side with the chain. He dropped the chain allowing his hand to come back. Then he wrapped the chain up Morty's torso and around his neck. Once the ends were brought together, he grabbed a padlock sealing the chains together, forming a harness with the metal chain.

"It will only be tight for a short time." He said. "I'll send my guy in to get you." He turned around to look at Morty, "And let's hope you don't have half the spunk Rick has or you won't last long here." The man chuckled then walked out.

The woman walked into the room a little after the man left. She seemed to be looking around as if she was trying to hide then closed the door. She pulled out a small camera taking a picture of the room. Then took several pictures of Morty. Morty wanted to scream at her, yell at her that he wanted out. The woman touched his forehead, "It's going to be alright." She whispered.

Morty stared at the woman.

She whispered, "They told me you were coming. Don't tell anyone here that you know Rick." The woman placed some type of liquid on his ear, making it burn. Morty let out a small grunt. "Sorry, I have to clean your ear with alcohol or it will get infected." She whispered. "He always forgets this part."

The woman stood up quickly sticking her camera up her sleeve when the door opened. A boar guard was standing at the door frame. Morty looked between the two, it was like they didn't expect to see the other. How did this woman know Rick? Who were they? Did he already screw up saying he knew Rick to the scientist?

The woman unstrapped the gag out of his mouth, "The professor told me to clean up the room." She said quickly.

"You may be sleeping with him, but that doesn't mean you can just do whatever you want." The guard said.

The woman walked over to the counter starting to pick up items.

"Are you going to help me?" The man asked.

The woman looked over, "Yeah." She ran over to unhook Morty's legs from the straps while the man unhooked his arms.

The guard harshly pulled Morty off the table making him fall to the ground.

"Be careful!" The woman said.

The guard glared at her, "Don't tell me how to do my job."

Morty was pushed through the door. He looked around as they walked. It was a long white hallway. The guard stopped at a door, he started unlocking several large locks. Then pulled the door open. It revealed a long set of stairs. He was forced forward as he walked down the stairs into a dark cold area. The man stopped at another door unlocking more locks on that door. When that door was open, it revealed several large cages on both sides. Morty was forced down a narrow aisle way enough for them to walk one in front of another. He jumped when something jumped at him from the cage, the bars stopping it from getting to him. Another was laughing as it sat in the back of the cage. They passed the pomerianian looking creature; it was pacing back and forth.

Morty was pushed into an open cage as the door locked behind him. Morty turned back around to see the man locking the door.

Once the guard started to walk off the alien to his left spoke, "You're going to die."

"Uhm, what?" Morty asked.

"You're weak." Morty couldn't see much, it appeared to have a lizard or dog face with large jagged teeth. It was smiling.

"N-n-no I'm not." Morty said.

"I can smell it on you. You're already scared and you haven't seen anything yet."

"Just stop talking." Morty said.

"I give you a month." The creature said. "That number is tainted."

"What number?"

"The number on your ear. We all have them. Eighty two never lasts longer than a month. I'm eighty three. That's why I sit next to you." The creature laughed.

Morty lifted his hand up touching the tag on his ear. "I'll be fine. Just take care of yourself."

"I have been. Who's going to take care of you?"

"I'll be fine." Morty muttered again walking to the back of the cage. He sat in the back staring at everything as the metal chains clinked around him. He set his hands to cover himself the best he could, "I'll be fine."

 ** _Thanks for the positive feedback! Reviews always appreciated!_**


	6. Chapter 6

Morty woke up starving. The cold basement made it impossible for him to sleep well, but being unclothed wasn't a big help either. He had slept in the nude a select few times, but it was on hot summer nights and he still always had a sheet to wrap around himself. Being completely open made it really hard to sleep in the bitter basement.

He looked around the poorly lit room. Most were still sleeping. There were two that were talking in a different language back and forth. Rick always took him to places where everyone spoke English. It never occurred to him that there would be other languages. It made sense, Earth itself had a lot of languages on one planet. Several galaxies were bound to have more languages.

"They are nocturnal."

Morty turned to his neighbor who was sitting up.

"Those two that are talking. They talk all night. It drives me crazy."

"Why are we here?" Morty asked.

"Experiments."

"What kind?"

"I don't know. No one really knows."

The door opened revealing a cart rolling into the room with a figure following behind. The dim light turned to a bright light revealing the full room. To Morty's shock, everyone stood up and walked to the front of the cage sitting down. He stayed put in the back of his cage. Now he could get a good look at his neighbor, his neighbor's face was that of a lizard.

To Morty's surprise, he recognized the alien species. He first saw one when Rick had to stop at an alien bar when his flask ran out. Rick's words still rung in his ears, _"That's an inguan Morty. D-don't ever -urp believe anything they say. All inguans are the same. They lie and steal when it's convenient for them. If they ne-need you, they will be your best friend Morty. However, as soon, as soon they don't need you anymore, they will throw you aside. Don't ever trust an inguan Morty. They will throw you away as soon as you're useless to them."_

Morty had spent days after that speech wondering if Rick was telling the truth. He knew Rick was like that too, but that didn't mean all humans did that. Could a whole species really act a certain way?

Morty turned his head to look at the aisle. The figure with the cart was getting closer to him; it was hard to tell much from the figure due to the large cart covering its hunched form.

The cart had two levels with buckets on each level. The figure appeared to read off a clipboard, then give the alien in front of it a shot, then open a small door to give a bowl as if it was a reward. It would then walk to the next one, reading down the list, grabbing a needle, giving the shot, then rewarding with the bowl. The figure made its way down the narrow aisle until it reached Morty. The figure stopped at the cage pointing to the front. He stared at the figure, but didn't move. The figure pointed again. It seemed to be able to hide in the shadow of the cart.

Was he brave enough to find out what was going on? He looked to his neighbor next to him who was leaning against the front of the cage like the others, then looked back at the figure who pointed for a third time. Morty walked over to the front of the cage. The figure looked up to his tagged ear then grabbed the clipboard, it read down the chart.

Morty had a hard time trying to figure out if the figure was a male or female. It seemed to have a more feminine appearance, but appeared to have gone through some sort of ordeal in the past; its mouth appeared sewn shut, a large hole where its right eye would be. Only the left eye seemed to move. On top of that, it appeared to have burn marks of some type. They didn't seem to be a burn from a fire. Rick had told him of acid burns, warned him of the issues with playing with things he didn't understand. Was this is an acid burn? The scars seemed to have healed a long time ago. There was almost no hair on the person's head. The hair was thin and seemed as though it had fallen out in most of its head.

By this time Morty was brought out of his trance with the small door closing behind the food. He picked it up staring at the contents. It was a gooey mess. It reminded Morty of oatmeal that didn't have enough water. He picked some up in his hands, eating a bite. It was worse than oatmeal. He had never tasted something so vile. He still ate it. If the others here were eating this food, this probably meant they didn't get fed often. The figure walked down the aisle to the next cage.

Morty realized he didn't get a shot like the others; maybe it was because he was new.

Throughout the day, the boar guards that he saw from before walked in and out grabbing different creatures and dragging them out. Then they would bring the creatures back later in the day. Some of the creatures would be drugged while others were walking in as if nothing happened.

A boar guard walked into the room and walked in front of Morty's cage. The guard opened the cage reaching his hand in, grabbing Morty's chain harness. He dragged the kid out and pushed him through the aisle. Once out of the basement, he was forced up the stairs. They stopped in a room where the scientist was bent over writing something in a notebook.

"Professor, I brought subject 82."

"Good." The man turned around with a smile on his face. "Subject 82! Congratulations! You're the first human subject I've had! I don't need a human subject for another month, but we all need to do our part around here. It just so happens that I killed the last one who was cleaning my lab. So I'm going to need you to clean." The man smiled as if he was friends with Morty. Then he stood up, "So you can clean the tools in this sink." He stood near a large metal sink. "When they are dry you grab one clean rag and put one of each tool in the rag. There should be five tools when you are done." He set the tools down on the rag as he talked through the instructions. "Then fold the rag. And tape it with this special tape." He wrapped the items as needed. "Then this machine is called the autoclave. It can hold one on each shelf so it can hold up to five rags at a time. When you close it, push the green button. When it rings the tape should then have stripes." He pulled a package off a shelf showing black strips over the tape. "This means the autoclave worked correctly. Then you just put the items up here. If the strips don't show, you will have to restart the process. Over here." He walked over to a door and opened it, "You'll see the cleaning supplies. You have brooms, mops, cleaners, rags. Whatever is needed to clean. You get that?"

"Uhm, yeah." Morty said.

"Good. Now I also need you to sweep and mop the floors regularly. Clean the tables in the four exam rooms between uses. You will need to watch for when I have subjects taken out of rooms and you will walk right in to clean the counters, tables, and floors. And clean pretty much everything and anything you see. Now I'm picky so you gotta do a good job. You good?"

"I-I guess." Morty said scratching the back of his head. He wasn't much of a cleaner, his mom and dad always cleaned everything. He was just in charge of his room.

"Any questions?" The man picked up an item glaring at it.

"So, uh can I have, you know, a pair, a pair of boxers or anything at all?" Morty asked awkwardly.

"No." The man set the item back down on the table, "Anything else?"

"I guess not." He had a million questions, but with the quick answer he received he assumed now would be a good time to stay quiet.

The man smiled, "Good. Being my janitor does come with a few perks. First off, I don't want to have to smell you every day." The professor turned to the boar guard, bring subject 82 to get a shower. I could smell the subject down the hall. Once out, the subject can get started."

The assistant grabbed Morty's harness and pulled him along. To Morty's surprise, he was brought to a large locker room. His eyes brightened when he saw the large floor with ten shower heads sticking out of the walls.

"Fifteen minutes." The assistant said.

Morty nodded and walked over to the closest shower head, he turned the knob as water flew out of the top. He waited a few seconds until it warmed up. He stepped in to the line of the water, feeling the warm water hit him. It stung and yet, he couldn't get enough. He was rubbing his skin trying to clean the dirt off himself. Then he noticed the soap sitting on the side. He picked it up rubbing the suds on his body. The feeling of the dirt falling off him was a welcome feeling. From when he was young, he always detested showers. Until he was around twelve he would fight his mom before he would take a shower. This time around Morty never thought a shower could ever feel this good.

"Get out." The man said harshly.

Was it fifteen minutes already? Morty stepped out. He was hand a small rag. "Dry off."

"Okay." Morty used the small rag to dry himself. Once done, he was brought back to the main room.

The professor was gone. The man brought Morty over to the sink. Morty took it upon himself to start cleaning the items in the sink. He turned on the water then looked around for the soap. The only item around was a powder sitting next to the sink. He looked up at the guard, "Uhm, i-is that the soap?" he asked.

"Yeah." The guard said.

Morty started to wash the utensils. There was blood all over the items in the sink. Morty didn't want to know what they were used for. Once he was done washing the utensils, he grabbed the rag like the scientist said and set it down. He set the five utensils down and folded them in. Then taped them together like he was told to.

Morty looked up to see the guard standing at the door, looking bored. The guard held a cigarette in his mouth as he was attempting to light it. Morty went back to his chore. Once five were done, Morty set the items in the machine that he couldn't remember the name too.

"Lunch time!" Someone yelled down the hall.

"Finally." the guard said. "Eighty two follow me."

Morty had to admit he was hungry too. Lunch sound good.

The man opened a door and ushered Morty into the room. The room looked like a large kitchen. A thick cloud of cigarette smoke loomed over the ceiling.

"Why are you bringing a subject in here?" One of the men sitting at the table said.

"I'm starving and I don't want to go back down stairs." The guard said.

"You know Professor will scream his head off if he finds out."

"Good thing he's out right now." The man said dropping his used cigarette in the sink.

The woman that Morty met yesterday yelled at the man, "Get the butt out of the sink. Where were you raised?"

"Maybe you forgot about the part where I was born in a barn."

Everyone laughed.

The guard looked over at Morty, "Go sit in the corner and be quiet."

Morty nodded and walked to the corner of the room. He sat down, leaning against the wall. Morty took in his surroundings. The table was large enough to seat everyone plus some. A large casserole was sitting on a stove. The woman from before was scooping a large cheesy mess onto plates and passing them out. Morty licked his lips, wishing he could have one bite. After everyone had a plate, the woman brought a glass of water over to Morty.

"Why are you giving the subject anything?"

"Eighty two is missing out on the water run." The woman said.

Morty took the glass of water, at least it was something.

"Cindy, let the subject lick the dish. One less dish to scrub later."

Everyone laughed, but no one gave him any of the food. Everyone else was at the table eating off their plates, ignoring him. They were talking among themselves, complaining about their jobs.

He was finishing up his glass of water when the others brought their dishes to the sink.

Morty took it upon himself to bring his glass to the sink like the others did.

"Look at this!" One of them said. "The subject thinks it's one of us."

"I—I'm just try-trying to help." Morty said.

Everyone laughed as one of the boars pushed him out of the way snatching the glass from him. "Go back over there until your needed."

Morty was about to do as the guy said when the guard that was following him spoke up, "Eighty two lets go back to work."

Morty followed the guard back out the room.

"Where have you been?" The professor was sitting at a computer.

"Eating lunch. You didn't want the subject to be alone yet. So I had to force the subject to come."

The scientist turned from his computer, "I want all this done by the end of the day or the subject won't be going back to its cage and you won't be getting any sleep."

"Lay off my dick, it will get done." The guard said. The guard pushed Morty toward the sink which held even more utensils. "Go ahead."

Morty started up his washing again.

He was unaware of how long he had been cleaning. His stomach was aching as he was his hands and knees mopping the floor. The professor already left for the day and they were done with all the subjects. Morty figured he had been cleaning for at least four or five hours after the lunch break.

"I can finish the shift tonight." The woman from before said to the guard.

"Thanks." The man said walking off. "Make sure you bring the subject back down when you're done."

"No problem. I'll see you later."

"See you."

Once the man was gone the woman pulled out a camera taking a picture of Morty. Morty tried not to look, he was getting tired of that dumb camera. Then she walked over to him placing a hand on his shoulder to make him look up. She hand him a granola bar. He stopped mopping to stand up.

"You have to eat it now." The woman whispered.

Morty nodded opening the wrapper; he ate the bar in four bites. "Thank you...uhm...Cindy."

The woman smiled, "Don't call anyone by their name here."

"How do you know…"

"Sssh." The woman said cupping her hand to Morty's mouth. "Don't ask anything about that. Don't mention him to anyone." She was whispering.

"Where are we?" Morty asked.

"I don't know. Only the professor knows where we are. Everyone here was drugged and then brought over while they were passed out"

"Oh. What's with the camera?" Morty asked.

"Don't worry about it. Just lay low, do as they say and everything will be okay." The woman smiled sweetly.

Morty didn't know whether or not he could trust the woman. He just had to hope that she was really here to help him. He had to hope that Rick would come any time. In the mean time, he would have to hope he could get by.

"Now finish mopping so we can finish this day."

Once Morty was done with his chores, he followed the woman back to the cage. He walked in and sat in the back. He noticed the two that were nocturnal were asleep. Morty yawned, after sitting around for over a week, he was exhausted from today. He closed his eyes and fell asleep in seconds.

 ** _Once again, thanks for the positive feedback! It's always appreciated!_**


	7. Chapter 7

The next day, Morty woke up to the dark room being lit up. He hadn't slept that well since he was captured. The same figure did its rounds down the aisle. It would give shots and then a bowl of food. The figure skipped the shot for Morty again then gave him the bowl of food. After the food was served, the guard walked down opening Morty's cage. He was allowed to walk out of the cage without the guard pulling him. He walked up the stairs with the guard behind him. The guard pushed Morty toward the main room where the professor was standing looking impatient.

"Professor, subject eighty two."

He wasn't smiling this time. "Eighty two, I told you I'm picky about the cleaning. I'm very very picky when it comes to cleaning." He walked up to Morty and grabbed the chain harness then dragged him to the sink. "So tell me why this sink has crumbs at the bottom!"

"I-I." It wasn't there yesterday, or maybe it was, he couldn't remember.

Morty was pushed; his ribs hit the side of the sink.

"Maybe you didn't hear me yesterday." The man turned on the water to the sink then plugged the sink with a stopper. "I like everything clean! How am I supposed to keep a lab that is supposed to be sanitized if my sink isn't spotless?" Steaming water was filling the sink. "Huh? How am I?"

"I-I don't know." Morty squeaked. "I can do better next-next time."

"Do better next time? You think you can do better?" he asked.

The hot water started to overflow onto the floor, he could feel it touching the pads of his feet.

"Let me show you what I do to those who don't listen to me." The professor grabbed the back of Morty's head and shoved his face into the water. Morty attempted to push himself out as the professor kept his head under the water. He was trying to hold his breath, but his lungs were starting to scream for air. His head was brought out of the water, Morty gasped. "What's that? You didn't learn your lesson?" The professor questioned, before Morty could talk he was pushed back into the water.

Once again, Morty was close to breathing in the hot water, he was starting to see spots when his head was brought up again. He took a deep breath and as quickly as he could he was able to say, "Sorry." It came out as a whisper as he attempted to still grasp for air. His face still burning from it being in the steaming water.

"What was that?" the professor questioned.

"I'm sorry. Ve-very sorry. It won-won't happen again." Morty quickly tried to say between breaths.

The man scowled throwing Morty to the ground as the water still fell from the edge of the sink. "Clean this fucking mess. Don't let it ever happen again." The man grabbed one of the rags with the five tools that was cleaned yesterday then left the room.

Morty stood up turning the water faucet off. He stared at the water that was still flowing slightly over the edge. Then he stuck his arm down into the water, unplugging the heat of the water was intense but his fear for his life was greater so he chose to work past the heat. Morty was sure he got some sort of burn from the hot water.

Morty was still drying the floor when he heard the professor call him, "Eighty two."

Morty stayed where he was, he was busy cleaning, and the professor could wait.

"Eighty two!" He heard again.

Morty still stayed put drying the floor. It wasn't his name. He had a name and it wasn't a number.

The guard picked Morty up with the chain harness so his feet weren't touching the floor. "When the professor calls you, run to him." Then Morty was set on his feet.

"O-okay." Morty walked down the hall. He found the professor standing at a sink, washing his hands. Morty looked up at the sign on the door it read, 'Exam 3.'

"Come on in." The professor said drying his hands with a paper towel.

Morty walked in to see blood dripping from the table onto the floor. Dirty utensils were displayed on the counter.

"Clean this mess in twenty minutes. Make sure it's ready for the next subject. Don't let it be a sink incident."

Morty nodded and walked to get the cleaners from the other room. He started to clean the table then the counters. Morty was on his hands and knees cleaning the floor when the professor walked in. He peered at the silver table. Morty sat up on his knees, he looked up at the man who was staring at his reflection.

"Nicely done eighty two! You redeemed yourself. There may be hope for you yet."

"uhm…thanks, I guess." Morty said. He was used to the back handed comments from Rick but it was odd when those comments came from a stranger.

"From now on, you need to keep an eye on the rooms when you see the room open, go in and make sure it's clean. Leave no room untidy." The professor said. "Do a good enough job and you can eat some of the lunch the others make."

"O-okay." Morty suddenly felt a foot to his side making him fall to the ground. He looked up at the man as he held his side.

"You say thank you when I give you something!" the man yelled. "Now when I say, do a good enough job and you can eat, what are you going to say?"

"Th-thank yo-you." Morty said holding his side.

The professor smiled, "You're welcome." Then he walked out of the room.

XXXXX

He waited to watch for a way out, but never saw one. Typically by now, he would see a small crack in their defense, but this new prison appeared to have everything possible. He was going to be later than he thought. He knew he would get out eventually; he just had to wait for the right time. The worse part wasn't the waiting, it was the feeling of being sober. The withdrawals were nothing to laugh at.

His block was suddenly brought forward and set on the ground. Ten gromflomite guards surrounded it as they loosened his shackles. Rick fell to the ground, his muscles weak from being stuck in the same position for nearly three weeks. They swiftly handcuffed him then forced him forward as all the guards surrounded him. Rick looked around as he was forced down the hall. This was the first time he had a chance to come up with a plan of escape.

Rick was taken to a holding cell. There was no doubt in Rick's mind that he was being prepared for torture. Normally, they had tools displayed across the table showing him what they were planning. This time, there was nothing. He was sat down in the chair, his legs handcuffed to the legs of the chair. His arms then released so he could move them freely. He was surprised; they had never allowed his arms freedom. Rick was looking around, making sure there was no way he could escape here. All ten gromflomites stood around the room, holding their guns. When he realized the chance of escaping at this time wasn't doable, he went back to looking down. He had to play good for a few weeks to a few months. When they start to trust him, then he'd make his escape.

Rick was staring at his feet just waiting.

Finally, the door opened as someone walked in. Rick could feel eyes on him as he still stared at his feet.

"Good evening Mr. Sanchez, it's been awhile." A female voice said. He could tell from her voice, it was Agent Corkander...or Cockander as he loved to call her. Her voice sent his blood boiling. "No fighting? No screaming? No cussing?"

Rick wouldn't let her know he was angry so he just let out a breath of air.

"I've had your case for so many years. I've followed you around, watched your every move. You don't give up easily. You're a fighter. I know you're planning something right now. You're a planner, you always have something in your mind that many others would never think of. Right now, your trying to play off like you've given up until we decide you are no longer a threat. That's when you will make your move. Am I right?"

A loud thud was heard on the table. He still didn't just stared at his cuffed feet.

Then a chair was pushed out, he assumed she sat down across from him. He knew this as a typical interrogation strategy. Be your friend. Get close to you. Pretend like they know you. It was something they had done to him the first time they caught him. Since then, the tortures were normally physical. On occasion they would throw in a mental strategy.

"You miss him don't you?"

Rick just stared down. He kept telling himself that she was trying to get him to talk. He wouldn't let her get into his head.

"If only there was a way for you to get out of here."

He was not going to talk.

"Tell me Mr. Sanchez, what if I told you I know where Morty is?"

Rick suddenly looked up before he could stop himself.

"I knew that would get your attention." The woman smiled, leaning back in her chair. She crossed her arms waiting for him to speak. After a few minutes when Rick said nothing, she opened the folder pulling out a picture. She pushed it in front of him. It was a grainy picture of Morty strapped to a table. A gag in his mouth as he looked at the camera confused. Then another picture of Morty sitting in a cage was slid over. He was naked save a chain harness. He was staring at the camera with a solemn look on his face. A bowl in his hands that was conveniently placed to cover his lower end while whoever took the picture.

Rick stared at it.

The woman pushed another picture in front of him. Morty was cleaning in a lab room, his back to the camera.

"Where'd you get these?" Rick asked. He picked one up staring at it. It was definitely Morty. There was no doubt about it.

"Now you want to talk?" the woman smiled.

Rick jumped up slamming his hand onto the table, "WHERE'D you get THESE?"

The gromflomites all held up their guns, ready to shoot.

The woman waved them away. "It's alright." Most of them set their guns to their side once again.

"We have been following a man around for awhile now." She passed another picture in front. It was of a man in a lab coat. It was a man that Rick knew immediately. "He goes by the name of Professor. We can't get his original name. He prides himself at being a genetics researcher. He's working hard to find a pill so any two species can mate and be able to make a child. He's willing to go to any length to get it. Many places that were originally giving him grants to get this pill have taken back their grants after he's killed many of his subjects. He's ruthless and doesn't care if his subject dies."

Rick watched as another picture was brought out of the man.

"Nothing will stop him from getting what he wants. If he finds out that someone is working for us, he kills them immediately. He's killed ten of our informants so far."

"Why should I care?"

"I think we can work out a deal."

"What kind of deal?" Rick asked.

"We can't find him. When he has someone work for him, he drugs them and they wake up there. It's getting harder to get our informant there without him checking them over. We want to go another route. We want someone who's already known among the industry to sell him illegal items that he needs. We want someone to gain his trust by selling him items and see if he can tell you where his lab is."

"Why ask someone who's on your most wanted list to get this guy?" Rick asked skeptically.

"You kill when you have to. You are only on our list because you won't follow laws. This man, he will kill anyone, anywhere. He will go to any length to figure out this pill."

Rick stared back at the picture of Morty. "No, I don't follow orders."

"If you say no now your grandson will die by this man's hands."

"You should have thought about that when you saw him in that ship! You coulda brought him too."

"I know you care about your grandson."

"I only care about one person."

"Then why do you bring him everywhere you go? Do you really think we didn't know where you where? Did you think that we were dumb enough to not have cameras in your daughter's house before you were even in the picture?"

"Earth isn't on the federal jurisdiction. You had no reason to go near her!" Rick found himself raising his voice.

"We did it and we found you, just like we figured we would. So are you willing to help us?"

Rick looked away.

The woman slammed her hand on the table screaming, "You will be locked in jail forever! You will NEVER be able to help him if you aren't out of jail! Are you really willing to let him die?"

"He knew what he was getting into when he chose to go on adventures with me!" Rick yelled back. "He knew the cost!"

"Did you really talk to him about the cost? Did you really talk to him about the chance of him losing his life? Did he know you were one of the most wanted fugitives? Because I have video proof that shows you stumbling into his room drunk off your ass at one in the morning, telling him you have something to show him before showing him space for the first time. Quite honestly if I had a son, I would never trust you with him. Go ahead and wake someone up at one in the morning and tell them you have something to show them. See what happens."

Rick glared at the woman.

"So I bring you to another question, are you really willing to let a family member die?"

"I've done worse things."

"In exchange for helping us, we will relieve all problems you have ever caused us. You will walk a free man with Morty IF you help us."

"If you think you know me, then you would know I don't care about anyone but myself."

"You have five more seconds to make a choice for your freedom."

Five seconds went by in silence.

The woman stood up, the chair screeching against the floor, "Very well. I will have someone escort you to your cell then." She set her hand on the door when Rick finally spoke up.

"His lab moves."

The woman stopped and turned around.

"I helped him twenty years ago. The pill was originally my idea. We worked together for this pill. Then he wanted to further our research before it was ready. I…I wasn't interested anymore so I wanted to leave. At first he was belligerent; he didn't want others outside of the group knowing of this research. Eventually he asked me for one more favor, to make an algorithm that will move his lab from place to place. He said he'd pay me to make the algorithm."

"Then you can bring us there." The woman said excitement slipping in her voice.

Rick shook his head, "He never paid. When I went to find him he, I found out he changed the algorithm. I never found him for that last payment."

"You can help us then. You know him. He will trust you. He goes underground to buy his items now. We can have you talk to him underground."

"And he stays away from me because he owes me money!" Rick yelled. "How am I supposed to find someone who's avoiding me?"

"Then gain his trust BACK!"

"How? You expect me to just call him and say everything is fine and I forgive him for not paying me back? He knows I don't work that way."

The woman smiled.

"No! He owed me money. It's the principle of the thing!"

"Which is worth more? Principles or your grandson's life. He's already losing weight. The informant says he's lost fifteen pounds already and between you and me, he didn't look like he could afford to lose fifteen pounds."

"Fine! Let me know what you need. But I want a legal contract saying we both walk away from this no charges, no problems, nothing."

"I can do it."

"One more thing to the list."

"Go on."

"Morty and anyone who's ever related to me all get free medical at the best hospital any universe can offer for the rest of their lives. All medical will be paid for by the galactic federation! And I'm not talking just one or two generations. I'm talking hundreds of generations from now."

The woman smiled, "You know how to bargain, that's for sure. It's a deal."

He lifted his hand up shaking her hand.

"Finding him will be easy, I have a tracker on Morty, I'll just turn it on and it will lead us straight to him."

"You can't turn that on, if you do, he will kill him immediately." Corkander said. "He has a way of tracking if anything that uses GPA is in his lab. We have tried that."

"Okay, so you have a mole in there right now. That's how you got these pictures correct?" Rick asked.

"Yes. It's a Class B Shifter. It's portraying a human female."

"Hm." Rick said, "So you guys must be pretty pathetic if you asked for help first from a shifter then from a prisoner."

"We really need the professor to be away. He's killed too many."

A large document was thrown onto the table in front of Rick.

"That was quick." Rick said thumbing through it.

"Read it well and sign. Then we need to get you out of here and we have to make it look good. Tell me Sanchez, are you good at acting?"

"I've dabbled in it."

"Well, you better get good real fast because we have to make everyone who watches the news believe that you escaped us and are on the run again."

Rick glared up at her, "Don't tell me how to escape."

A clear bag was thrown on the table. It was all of his stuff he was wearing when he was arrested. "Once you sign the contract, you will have a head start. Just don't kill anyone. I'll find you when we need you for the next step."

It took Rick a second to register what was happening before she walked out with all the gromflomites save one and the door ajar. He continued to read through the contract to ensure the federation didn't try anything.

Once he was done and it was signed, the one gromflomite stepped up to him uncuffing his legs from the chair. Rick went into action shoving the gromflomite back and grabbing his bag. He ran out the room as sirens started to blare.

He always loved the rush of escaping!

 ** _Is anyone else having issues with the document manager? I had to copy and paste into a former chapter to be able to add this. Just curious if it's just me or if others are having this issue._**

 ** _And as always, reviews are always nice and greatly appreciated!_**


	8. Chapter 8

**_Italics means it's a memory (in the past)_**

 _It was just another Saturday afternoon in the Smith household. Morty was walking down the stairs after spending all morning on the computer. His mom and dad went to something but he couldn't remember what. His sister stayed over a friend's house and his grandfather was…doing whatever Rick did. He opened the fridge pouring a glass of orange juice then pulled out bologna and bread. He set them on the counter then grabbed a plate. Once the bread was on the plate he set his bologna in the middle of the two slices then picked it up. He was about to take a bite when he noticed a small ant walking along the counter. Morty watched it for a few seconds longer than he cared to admit then squashed it with his thumb._

 _"Hey dawg! Whatya eatin?" Rick asked in one of his unusually happy moods._

 _"Bologna sandwich, you want one?"_

 _"Totes, hook me up!"_

 _Morty never understood why his grandfather used the 'old school' speak, maybe he thought teenagers still talked like that. He made another sandwich handing it to Rick._

 _The two ate in silence at the counter until Rick spoke up. "Why'd you kill the ant Morty?"_

 _"Huh?" it caught Morty off guard_

 _"The ant earlier, why'd you kill it?"_

 _"Uhm, I dunno." Morty never saw his grandfather as a save all lives type of person._

 _"Was it chasing you to kill?"_

 _"No. I guess cuz it was in the house."_

 _"Then what made you decide that the insect was inferior to you? Would you kill a dog because it was in the house?"_

 _"Well, no."_

 _"What makes that ant different than a dog?"_

 _"It's an ant Rick. That's all. There's a zillion out there."_

 _"There's also a lot of humans on Earth, sh-should I squash some humans?"_

 _"N-n-no…"_

 _"So why the ant?"_

 _"Geez Ri-Rick, it's just an in-insect."_

 _"So the insect species is inferior to the mammal? How about the amphibians or-or the?"_

 _"Geez, I get it. I'm...I'm sorry I ever killed the ant now."_

 _"Why? Just because your morals have been questioned Morty? Can't handle someone questioning your morals?"_

 _Morty walked away. He was done with this conversation_

XXXXX

Weeks passed since he was caught and Morty was in a good groove. He was brought food with the others every morning. He would eat and then they would grab him to clean for the day. He would help mop the floor, clean the dishes, and anything else necessary. In exchange, he was allowed a second meal halfway through the day. He would sit with the others and while he had to sit on the floor instead of at the table with them, he was given whatever they were eating. He was loosing weight. There was no doubt that, the harness had significantly loosened up around him. The guard no longer hovered over him, he earned their trust to be left alone while he cleaned.

He was attempting to keep track and if he was right, if Rick was good on his word, Morty would see Rick any moment. It had been at least four weeks since he saw Rick. So that must have meant Rick was just a little behind schedule, but he would be here. Morty had no doubt on that.

He was currently in the main room where he spent most of his time when the professor was in the exam rooms there was a small television that was left on from time to time. Today the professor left it on the news, the woman that Morty came to know as Cindy was near it as she was writing something down and running blood tests. He never got to talk to Cindy, every time he would attempt to get two words out to her, she would cut him down. She refused to talk to him.

Morty was on his hands and knees scrubbing a small spot on the floor that was being stubborn when a small roach walked out of a hole in the wall, it's little antennae moving around. Morty watched it walk around the wall as if searching for something. Morty accidentally let out a laugh at the little roach who was walking in circles. Cindy looked over at the young teen letting out a smirk before going back to her own work.

When the roach went back into the small hole, Morty went to the sink to complete another round of tools in the autoclave.

He had just stuck the last of the tools in the autoclave, pressing the button when the news suddenly broke out into a large story, "This just in, the fugitive Rick Sanchez just broke out of jail." The woman looked up at the television as the news showed a video of Rick shooting a gromflomite. Morty started to walk over to the television so he could see better. The woman quickly clicked the small television off.

Morty was about to complain when he heard the professor down the hall, "Eighty two!"

"Coming." Morty yelled. He knew better now than to not acknowledge when the professor called immediately. Morty had become the professor's favorite to call out. He would go out of his way to have Morty help him at times. Morty had to admit that he liked the attention in a weird way. He had found himself wishing that Rick would give him this attention at times, but never got it. Morty started to find himself going out of his way to make the professor happy for the praise he would receive. Praise that he always craved, but never got from Rick.

Morty started walking down the hall when eighty three ran by pushing Morty into the wall as he ran. Morty sat on the ground grabbing his ribs as the guards ran by him. Cindy ran over and knelt down to check him over.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I think..." Morty said before he felt a sharp pain in his torso

"Take it easy." The woman said.

"Eighty two! Get over here." The professor yelled in the direction that eighty three ran in.

"Come on, don't make him mad." The woman said attempting to have Morty stand.

She helped him to walk down the hall. The professor looked between the two as they turned the corner, glaring at them. "Eighty two." The professor said again, "Come over here."

Morty walked over trying to hide the pain.

"Eighty three here attempted to run away." He said. Morty noticed his cage neighbor on his knees. His arms were tired back. A muzzle around the snout of the lizard man. "Eighty three thought running away was an option. You see Eighty Two I have a rule here. It's simple, it's called the three strike rule. You're human Eighty Two, do you know what the three strike rule represents?"

Morty nodded.

"Care to explain?"

"uhm. It's from baseball." Morty said, "You can get three strikes."

"Correct." The man sound too calm for Morty's liking. "And so eighty three here had one strike when he escaped his cage when he first got here. A second strike when he hit one of my guards. And just now, he got his third strike for running from us. And what happens in baseball when the batter gets his third strike?"

Morty gulped.

The professor bent down to be on the side of Morty's face, "Come on eighty two what does the umpire say when the batter gets the third strike?"

"you-you-you're out?" Morty questioned.

"Very good." The professor held up a gun shooting the lizard man in the chest.

Morty let out a scream attempting to run. Two of the guards grabbed Morty. Each holding one of his arms. They forced him to face the lizard man who was still alive, gasping for breath. Another shot was fired. Then the professor knelt down to Morty, "It's okay, you guys can let him go." He then forced the gun into Morty hands. "Go ahead eighty two, show me your skills."

Morty attempted to drop the gun but the professor forced his hands to stay put.

"Go ahead, show me." He waited. "Do it or you won't eat for five days." The man said.

"I can't kill." Morty said trying to give back the gun.

"Do it!" the man yelled louder. "Do it! Or you won't eat. Eighty three is dead whether you or I do it. Do you want to go without eating?"

"No."

"Then shoot the gun."

"I don't wan-wanna kill." Morty said.

"If you shoot eighty three, everyone will get an extra meal tonight. Imagine how happy everyone will be to have one extra meal. Or if you don't shoot, everyone goes hungry tomorrow."

Morty dropped the gun backing away. "I-I can't."

"I knew it." The man said grabbing the gun and Morty's hand. He forced the gun into Morty's hands then pulled the trigger for him.

Morty watched as the neighbor fell to the ground. He felt himself shaking from what he just saw.

"Now clean up the mess you made." The scientist said walking away.

Morty observed as everyone walked off, leaving him alone with the dead neighbor. He felt his eyes water. His arm was grabbed gently by someone, Morty ripped himself out of the grasp.

"Eighty two..." it was Cindy.

"Just go." Morty said. He forced himself to stand up, grabbing an old rag, he started to clean the blood.

After a few minutes of silence, Cindy walked away.


	9. Chapter 9

The prison escape…if you could call it that was a quick blur and before he knew it, he was walking through a portal into the garage. To his surprise they left the portal gun in the bag. The federation had demanded the portal gun countless times for testing to learn how he could create a handheld portal device that could switch dimensions. The closest they could get was an extremely large stationary object that could transport you. When he was questioned in the past, he would spit at them and tell them he doesn't make things for just functionality but also for looks. Then he would suggest they do the same then stick it up their asses.

He threw the bag with the items he was given on his work bench, and started rummaging through a box until he found his alcohol stash. Luckily, it looked like Beth and Jerry left his stuff alone. If he believed in miracles, this was one of them. Normally, he couldn't go a day without one of them coming in to grab or touch something…or worse, to talk to him. So it was a miracle that nothing was moved or misplaced after his disappearance for three weeks.

Rick sat back in his spinning chair, chugging the beverage. Then he went over to the bench. He was fumbling through the bag until he found his clothes. After another gulp, he changed out of the orange attire he was in and into his usual khakis and blue long sleeve. Then his lab coat that fit loosely over him. He felt much more dressed now that he had his typical attire on.

He took another gulp of his drink.

Rick then noticed a picture at the bottom of the bag, it was one of the shots of Morty in wherever he was. Rick took another gulp of his drink then scoffed at it, tearing it up and throwing it in the trash.

He was never fond of Morty's lifestyle. The kid got the world handed to him on a silver platter. His naïve nature could easily be brought back to the fact that he was coddled his whole life. This new trial in his life would do him good; he needed to learn that life wasn't roses. Rick tried endlessly to teach him not to trust anyone and yet the kid trusted Rick with his own life...this would teach him that lesson. While Rick had to learn life's harshest lessons on his own, Morty was just easing through life. He even went as far to claim a mental problem and anxiety which made Rick scoff even more at the child. How could he have anxiety if all he did was go to school? High school was the easy part, life was hard. Rick knew that and it was time that Morty learned it as well. Yes, the reasoning was terrible, but he needed a way to sort out the fact that he was planning on leaving this dimension. He needed to sort in his head a reason why he was okay with leaving.

Without thinking, he took another gulp from his drink.

He then went for his computer and started typing in exact scenarios he needed so he could dimension hop.

He started typing in specifics,  
'Rick deceased within two hours'  
'Morty does not know of the Rick's death'…he didn't want to be questioned.  
'No federation involvement'

Rick was about to hit send when a picture of himself and Morty caught his eye. Beth took the photo while the two were in the garage. She had asked for the twos attention and told them to smile. Rick stared at himself in the photo, a smile spread across the Rick in the photograph's face that he hadn't seen in years. Morty next to him waving at the camera with that dumb naïve smile he hated. Morty later taped the picture onto the monitor four days before the two were caught. He remembered walking into the garage to see Morty proud as a peacock that he was able to set this picture on Rick's monitor without him knowing.

 _"Like you said Rick, we're the only friends we got!" Morty smiled up at Rick. To which Rick never replied back, just went to his work. Rick was hammered when he said that, flat out wasted when he gave Morty some dumb friend speech that somehow Morty remembered so fondly.  
_

Rick stared at the send button, took a gulp of his drink, then looked back at the picture, then gulped his drink.

To his chagrin, the bottle was empty. He slammed it to the ground, watching it shatter on the garage floor.

The door to the garage slowly opened, then he heard a voice, "Dad? Is that you?"

Rick wasn't ready for this, he needed another bottle. "Ye-yeah." He was able to say.

Beth leaned against the door staring into the dark garage, it was then that Rick realized he never turned on a light. The soft glow from the inventions he left here and his now lit up computer were the only things lighting the room before that door was open.

"Is Moooorty wiiith you?" she asked slurring her words.

"No." He walked over to his box, grabbing another drink.

"I was wo-worried that something haaappened to you…or worse…you ran off." Beth said while Rick pulled another homemade whiskey bottle from the box.

"Still here." Rick said opening the bottle then making his way to the computer.

"Yeah, I see that. Where's Morty?"

Rick was silent as he stared at the computer, it wasn't too late, he could run off. He should run off. Helping the federation was the last thing he should be doing.

"Where-where's Morty?" Beth asked again. Had she been drinking since his disappearance?

He brought his mouse to the shut down key, shutting down his computer.

"You know what sweetie. He's over a friend's house. Just having fun. I-I'm going to go get him." Rick said walking his daughter out of the garage. Why did he just lie to her? He was past lying unless if it was convenient for him. He had decided long ago if it didn't convenience him, then he would never lie even if the truth hurt.

Beth tried to stop when they were almost past the kitchen, "Wait." She almost fell making Rick have to catch her. "He's been at a friend's house this whole time and wouldn't call?"

"Yeah well he is a teenager, you know teenagers. Gotta have your independence at times. I'll talk to him about it when I go get him."

By now Rick had her upstairs. He helped his daughter into bed. "Okay dad, I trust you." She said as she laid down.

"Good night." She said as a sniffle came from her. Truth was she didn't believe him, but she was afraid of the truth so she would take his lie. Sometimes a lie was worth believing than hearing the truth.

Rick never said anything to her, he just shut the door.

To his surprise it was one in the afternoon.

He went back down to the garage, closing the door behind him so he could start figuring out what he needed. No one stole from Rick Sanchez, and he would teach this person who had Morty that lesson.

Rick walked over to the shelf sorting through until he found his gps device. All Ricks had one, however, they were able to make it where it only locked onto one device, the device they would surgically implant into their own Mortys. That way, a Rick could find his Morty and not find someone else's Morty. He was about to turn it on when he remembered Corkander, _"He has a way of tracking if anything that uses GPS is in his lab."_

"Fuck, making this real hard Morty." Rick muttered.

He then found his device that was able to pick up on any Morty's and Rick's brainwaves within ten feet of it. He started tinkering with it until he had what he wanted. A way to track any Morty's brainwaves within a light-year. It would still take forever to scour the universe but he could do it. Then he jumped into the ship. It wouldn't take long.

Losing track of time was always something Rick could do when his mind was focused on one thing. Within the last seven days, he had found five Mortys who dimension hopped into his dimension with their Ricks for one reason or another, but none of them was his Morty. Rick was currently in a bar not knowing where else to turn. He would forget to eat, leaving his stomach practically eating itself before he would stop.

Could he really go another who knows how long on a giant ass universe searching for one person. It was worse than the proverbial needle in a haystack. Then if he was correct on who he thought had Morty, that person could potentially be from another dimension who also knows how to hop around.

"I gave you a week to be free Sanchez, now it's time we start working together."

Rick looked behind him to see Corkander standing behind him

"With every offense possible, I don't want to work with you Cockander." Rick said.

"It's Corkander, Mr. Sanchez." The woman said.

"It's Rick, COCKander."

"Okay, so are you ready to work with us so we can figure this out? Or are you going to continue a dumb cat and mouse game that we have already been playing with the Professor. It's time instead of chasing the mouse, we poison it."

"Are you talking about killing him?" Rick asked. "Seems unethical to me. I don't think federation is typically unethical."

"Not literally Mr. Sanchez. More play our cards so we can do more. You could do so much more if you put your smarts to something good."

"Good is just a word that beings made up to give them a reason to live."

Corkander set a phone on the bar, "it's time to keep the contract up. You need to make the call. This phone has his number that he gives when he needs something."

Rick glared at her, he hated being told what to do.

"Go ahead Rick, make the call and let me know what you need."

Rick grabbed the phone harshly then walked away with it.

Morty was cleaning a centrifuge down after one of the tests went haywire leaving a mess everywhere. The phone rang in the main room. He had never heard it ring before. At one point, Morty had wondered if it even worked, a few days ago he almost attempted to call Rick before one of the guards had walked in making Morty leave the phone alone.

Morty looked around, no one was around to answer it. He debated back and forth on whether he should answer before the professor walked in, taking the phone off the receiver.

The professor looked at it skeptically before answering, "Hello?"

Morty watched the man's face falter for a second before looking at the teen. "Yes this is he…." He waited, "You don't say. How you doing? It's been awhile since I heard from you!" the man walked out of the room.

Morty went back to his work at hand.

Rick was glaring at Corkander as he spoke on the phone, "Yeah, like thirty years or something since I last saw you right?"

"What brings you back here?"

"You know, looking to make some money." Rick said, "I've been told you are always looking for something new. What ya looking for Paul? I can help ya."

"You know I hated that name back then, still hate it."

"It's your name, so what ya need?"

"We haven't talked in so long and you suddenly call and want to help me?"

"I need the money. So what item ya need?" Rick asked.

"What I need is a living being, not an item."

Rick stayed quiet. "What living being?"

"Do you remember Lucy?"

"The algurien." Rick said. "The reason for your experiments."

"Yeah, she sadly left me. Said I wasn't spending enough time with her. Guess I'm like you in more ways than one, we're both married to science first. I'm close to the end of my experiment. So I'm ready for a female algurien to further my trials."

"Okay." Rick was silent. He never actually kidnapped someone. He looked up at Corkander who waited impatiently. She set up a pen and paper mouthing the words, 'what does he want?'

Rick wrote down, 'algurien.'

Corkander wrote on the paper, 'Give us a week.'

"You know Paul, give me a week and we-I will get you that algurien."

"Great, I'll give you a thousand for it."

"Fifteen hundred."

The man smiled, "Twelve fifty"

"Okay. Deal."

"Deal."

Rick hung up.

"You knew his name all along? When were you going to tell me?" Corkander asked.

"Yeah, I knew him as Paul when we went to college together. What of it?"

"You don't have a degree."

"I only stayed for a semester. Paul stayed until he got his stupid Ph.D. That idiot spent his whole twenties in college."

"Anything else that you are keeping from me?"

"Nah, don't think so." Rick said scratching his now then grabbing his flask, "Now you better go get started on finding that algurien. You know what they say, two wrongs make a right. Am I right?"

Corkander did not find that as amusing as Rick did.

Morty done cleaning when the professor walked back into he room, setting the phone on the receiver. The professor was smiling from ear to ear.

"Eighty two." He said. Morty looked up the professor. "We are going to have so much fun with this one!"

Morty was about to ask questions but chose not too, it was easier to not ask questions.


End file.
